ScanPyramids: solving a 4,500 years old mystery

How did Egyptians manage to build pyramids and to assemble millions of stony blocks without the help of any machine, at a time when even the wheel did not exist? The mystery remains.

Last places of residence for Pharaohs of the Former Empire (on 2575-2134), pyramids still have numerous secrets regarding their construction as well as their internal structure. Illegible, they remain the pet peeve of scientists and archaeologists of the whole world who have studied them for decades.

ScanPyramids, a French-Egyptian project launched in October 25th, 2015, is the most ambitious exploration and study mission on the inside of pyramids that has ever been made in this field. Under the aegis of the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities and coordinated by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cairo together with the French HIP Institute (Heritage, Innovation, Protection), the mission brings together French, Japanese and Canadian scientists and engineers.

Using advanced technologies (muons radiography, infrared thermography, photogrammetry, scanner 3D reconstruction and drones), engineers examine the internal structure of these gigantic masses with impressive measurements. The pyramid of Cheops, the biggest of all, is 146 meters high, has a 5 hectare surface, assembles 2,5 million blocks, among which are 63 ton granite slabs, which were set up to 60 meters in height over the presumed room of the King.

Thanks to the infrared cameras that reveal differences of temperatures, researchers hope to discover cavities, rooms, corridors, secret passages or, for example, the real funeral room of Cheops - besides finding out about the construction and structure mysteries of the pyramids.

Since the beginning of the mission, two cavities were already discovered in the pyramid of Cheops.Will they succeed in solving the mystery of pyramids? To be continued…